Kentucky Wildcats vs Louisville Cardinals Prediction, 12/21/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Kentucky Wildcats vs Louisville Cardinals

Date: Thursday, December 21, 2023

Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY

TV: ESPN

The Louisville Cardinals (5-6) welcome the Kentucky Wildcats (8-2) at KFC Yum! Center on Thursday.

The Kentucky Wildcats took the court against North Carolina and notched a win by a score of 87-83 in their last game. In regard to fouls, the Wildcats left the arena with 19 while North Carolina recorded 22 fouls. They also made 8 out of their 24 tries from three-point range. North Carolina finished the contest at 77.8% at the charity stripe by converting 21 of their 27 attempts. Moreover, North Carolina collected 30 rebounds (5 offensive, 25 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. North Carolina totaled 12 dimes and had 7 steals for the game. When talking about defending, Kentucky allowed 47.4% from the field on 27 of 57 shooting. They also distributed 15 assists in this matchup in addition to forcing 17 turnovers and earning 7 steals. With respect to getting rebounds, they collected a total of 35 with 13 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Wildcats converted 19 of their 26 attempts for a rate of 73.1%. Kentucky finished the game having earned a 41.7% FG percentage (30 of 72) and made 8 of 23 three-point attempts.

Rob Dillingham is one player who was a contributor for the matchup. He ended up with 17 points on 6 of 16 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 25 minutes and also snagged 3 boards. He ended up shooting 37.5% from the floor and dished out 1 assist.

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Kentucky comes into this one with a mark of 8-2 for the campaign. They are averaging 90.2 points per game (6th in the country) while going 49.5% from the field. The Wildcats are connecting on 40.8% on shots from 3-point land (104 of 255) and 72.7% from the charity stripe. As a team, Kentucky is grabbing 38.2 rebounds per game and has accounted for 191 dimes on the campaign, which is 29th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 9.4 times per game and as a unit are committing 14.6 fouls every game.

Defensively, the Wildcats are able to force 14.9 turnovers per contest while drawing 16.6 personal fouls. They are giving up 32.7% on shots from beyond the arc and they are 246th in the country in opponents points per game (73.5). The Wildcats are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 42.3% (261 of 617) and they concede 35.8 boards per game as a group. They are ranked 226th in the nation in giving up assists to their opponents with 143 surrendered so far this season.

When they last played, the Louisville Cardinals took home the win by a final score of 85-63 against Pepperdine. In the matter of cleaning the glass, Louisville permitted Pepperdine to grab 25 in total (3 on the offensive side). They shot 25.0% from behind the 3-point line by hitting 6 of 24 and finished the game at 11 out of 14 at the free throw line (78.6%). The Cardinals allowed Pepperdine to bury 23 of 57 attempts from the floor which left them with a rate of 40.4% in this game. When the final whistle blew, the Cardinals went 32 for 66 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 48.5%. Concerning three-point attempts, Louisville converted 9 out of 16 tries (56.3%). They were able to bury 12 of the free throw tries for a rate of 75.0%. Pepperdine was called for 14 fouls in this game which took the Cardinals to the charity stripe for a total of 16 attempts. They also coughed up the ball 13 times, while recording 7 steals in this contest. The Cardinals earned 27 defensive boards and 13 offensive boards for a total of 40 in this contest.

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield ended up having an impact for the Cardinals for the game. He knocked down 6 of 11 for the game giving him a field goal percentage of 54.5%, and accounted for 12 rebounds. He recorded 20 points in his 31 minutes on the court and added 2 dimes for the matchup.

Louisville has a record of 5-6 on the year. As an offensive unit, the Cardinals are connecting on 41.8% from the floor, which ranks them 295th in college basketball. Louisville has earned 819 points so far this season (74.5 per contest) and they pull in 38.6 rebounds per contest. They are assisting teammates 10.7 times per game (333rd in Division 1) and they turn the ball over 12.6 times per game. The Cardinals have committed 18.2 fouls per game and they go 73.8% from the free throw line.

The Louisville defense allows 28.7% on three-point shots (66 of 230) and opponents are converting on 72.7% of their free throw attempts. They relinquish 13.7 assists and 35.3 boards per game, ranking them 265th and 200th in those categories on the defensive end. The Cardinals are ranked 247th in Division 1 in PPG given up with 73.6. They are able to force 12.5 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 44.6% from the field (267th in D-1).

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Louisville

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